You know those games that make you sit back and go “wow”?
Those games that bring back those old feelings that you
had when you were playing as a kid? The ones that bring
a sort of newness and unpredictability that you thought
had been long gone? Well Resident Evil 4 is one of those
games.
In RE4 you take the role of Leon Kennedy (of Resident
Evil 2 fame) who’s now an Agent for the U.S. government.
His mission is to travel to Europe to find out what happened
to the President’s daughter. Where’s Umbrella?
The government shut them down… blamed them for the
Raccoon City accident that happened 6 years prior. A lot
of things have changed; this is the new Resident Evil.
The storyline is the least of what’s changed in
this game however… gone are the static, placed cameras,
RE4 now sports a behind-the-shoulder cam that’s
not quite 3rd person, yet not quite 1st person either.
It’s a bit of a hybrid and it works well. A brand
new graphics engine accompanies the new viewpoint that
makes RE4 one of the best looking console games to date.
The environments are alive and detailed and the amount
of things going on in the game is mind-blowing. Be prepared
to not face one enemy at a time, but sometimes 20 or 30!
RE4 features more carnage than every other RE combined.
Also unlike the previous installments you are provided
with plenty of ammo for your 20+ hour-long mission. There
are even shops randomly placed near save points (typewriters
are back, minus the ink ribbons) where you can buy new
weapons, upgrade old weapons and sell gems and other things.
Doesn’t sound like the Resident Evil games you used
to play…
Make no mistake this is Resident Evil, just a much need
evolution of the survival horror genre. This game gives
you plenty of ammo, action packed sequences and unlimited
saves yet still manages to give you the creeps and the
feeling of being overwhelmed. For example, in an early
segment in the game you are held up in this house with
a companion you met along the way. What are you hiding
from? Insane villagers (sorry kids, no zombies!) out for
your blood! You have to block the windows, knock down
ladders and keep them from coming inside the house in
a Night of the Living Dead way… Very intense. That’s
the best word to sum up this game: Intense.
Are there downsides to this game? I’m sure you
can nitpick a few things like no quick switch for weapons,
limited item storage, no storage box and the inability
to strafe but those things are so minor that you don’t
even care about them while playing. The positive far outweigh
the negative (if you can even call it that).
Resident Evil is back and it’s here to stay. After
a few missteps like Resident Evil: Apocalypse and the
online debacle Resident Evil: Outbreak, RE4 has put the
series back on the map and judging by RE4s ending, it’s
not going anywhere anytime soon.
